The following statement was contained as part of the manuscript, “Diary of a church agent, 1866-1867”, being part of the Personal Papers of James Croil. The author of the manuscript, James Croil, was a journalist and historian. He was appointed general agent of the Church of Scotland in Canada. In this capacity, he travelled throughout Upper Canada visiting every existing Church of Scotland congregation. At a later date, he was appointed editor of “The Presbyterian” (which became the “Presbyterian Record” after 1875). The statement is as it originally appeared (spelling, short forms, etc.).
Mr. Creen was an Irishman who finished his studies in Scotland came to Canada without licence he taught School some time in Gananoque. Mr. Smart of Brockville persuaded him to take orders & he received licence from the Presby of Brock. Proceeded to western Canada heard of a Grammar School in Niag ara applied for it & got it. & preached in the Pres Ch. thereBishop Stuart and others expounded to him that there was no field for Presbyterianism in Canada. Nothing but poverty & hardship – the Ch of England could offer him a comfortable living and work at Niagara. He took 6 moths to consider of it and eventualy yielded was made rector and so continued till his death 2 or year ago.This is the statement of his brother Hugh Creen of Waterdown, 19th April 1866 —–
This document, along with many other sources, makes it possible to write biographical sketches about two brothers who emigrated to Canada, to live out their lives in very different ways.
The Mr. Creen, about whom this statement was made, was Thomas Creen, who served as minister, and then rector for many years at St. Mark’s, the historic Anglican church at Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake). He was the younger brother of one of East Flamborough’s early settlers, Hugh Creen.
Born in Rathfriland, County Down, Ireland, on November 20th, 1799, Thomas Creen came to Canada after he graduated from Glasgow University with a good classics education. Using his ability as a classics scholar, he became a school teacher in the wilderness of Upper Canada, at Gananoque, about the year 1818. The Rev. William Smart of Brockville persuaded him to continue his education and he received his orders as a Presbyterian minister, from the Presbytery of Brockville. Mr. Smart was a minister of the Scottish Secession Church, who had accepted the call to preach to the Presbyterians in the Brockville area of Upper Canada, in 1811.
Western Canada (anything west of Toronto was considered Western Canada at this time) was the place of the greater opportunity, especially the Niagara frontier. Having heard of a Grammar School in Niagara, Thomas Creen came to Western Canada. He applied for, and was accepted as, a teacher in the District Grammar School in Niagara. In 1820, the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Niagara desired the services of the Rev. Thomas Creen, after hearing him preach to them for a few weeks and being pleased with him. Ann Dorothea Ball, of Thorold, became his wife on Dec. 25th, 1823, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Niagara. Throughout the early 1820’s, he continued as a school teacher, and Presbyterian minister.
As shown in the statement, a number of people, including Bishop Stuart of the Church of England, had explained to Thomas Creen the doctrine and benefits of the Church of England, and left him to consider the matter. Thomas’ first child, Thomas Addison, was born on 19 April, 1825, and baptized in St. Mark’s Anglican Church a month later. The Rev. Robert Addison, first rector of St. Mark’s, nominated the District School Master, Thomas Creen, to be ordained and be his assistant. Thomas was appointed Assistant Minister on 30 July, 1826, and by Dec. 30th of that year, was signing himself “Minister of Niagara”. He continued to teach at the Grammar School as well.
On the 3rd January, 1827, John Creen, the son of Hugh and Catherine, was baptized by the Rev. Thomas Creen. Was his brother Hugh living in Niagara at this time, or just visiting? On June 24th of this same year, Thomas and Ann’s second child, Charles Phillpots Creen, was born.
In 1828, the Rev. Thomas Creen bought from John Ross, for £203.15.6, the home at 363 Simcoe Street, Niagara. This house, known as the Creen House since that time, was built about 1817. Some additions were made to the house at a later date. It is one of the historical homes still to be seen in Niagara.
Another child, a daughter, Maria Theresa, was born on the 8th of May, 1829, to Thomas and Ann Creen. The Rev. Robert Addison baptized this child on the 16th of June. The records indicate that this child was the last to receive baptism at the hands of Mr. Addison. He was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Creen, who had taken charge of the parish and acted as his curate for the past three years.
A second daughter, Elizabeth Ann, was born to the Creens, and baptized on October 2nd, 1831 by Thomas Creen himself.
In the centennial book about St. Mark’s, Niagara, it was reported that … “he was a scholarly man and a good classic, and established a school of a superior character, at which several of the leading men of the day were educated. He was a clear and perspicuous writer, and his sermons give testimony of no ordinary talent.” While there are no records of Thomas Creen teaching in the Grammar School in the 1830’s, he was on the Board of Trustees for the School District for many years.
The Rev. Thomas Creen was presented to the Rectory of Niagara on the 26th of January, 1836, and was inducted on the 2nd May by Dr. Strachan, the Archdeacon of York, duly commissioned by the Hon. and Right Rev. Charles James Stuart, Bishop of Québec. He now became the second Rector of St. Mark’s.
While it appears that Mr. Creen was no longer a Grammar School teacher, he taught some private pupils, some of them apparently boarders in his home on Simcoe Street (he declared a household of nine in the 1848 census).
In later years, his health being poor, he had the assistance of a few curates. An unhappy scandal (helped on by his Curate) concluded his term of office, but medical evidence proved his behaviour acceptable, and he was honourably retired in 1856. During his time at St. Mark’s, the church was greatly enlarged to the eastward. In 1843 the new portion was built, including the present sanctuary, transepts, vestry, sacristy, vestibules, and the tower with its massive buttresses. It was at this time that the famous ‘high pulpits’ were erected: actually a pulpit to the left of the congregation and a lectern to the right.
The Rev. Thomas Creen died on January 6th, 1864, and is buried in St. Mark’s Cemetery at Niagara. Some years later, in 1882, his wife Ann Dorothea died, and was laid to rest beside him.
This is the story of an early Canadian emigrant from Ireland. In a later Heritage Paper, we will look at Thomas Creen’s brother Hugh, and his story. Hugh Creen settled in East Flamborough, and later moved to Waterdown. His descendants are still to be found in the area.
“Anglicanism in Ancaster from 1790 to 1830”, p.48 & p.63, publ. by The Ancaster Township Historical Society, 1979“Diary of a church agent, 1866-1867”, James Croil, Personal Papers, manuscript on microfilm, United Church Archives, Toronto, Ontario“Encyclopedia Canadiana”, The Groiler Society of Canada Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada“Niagara-on-the-Lake – The Old Historical Town”, N. & H. Mika with N. Butler & J. Ormsby, Belleville, Ontario, 1990“Enduring Witness”, John S. Moir, 1987“Old Niagara on the Lake”, Peter John Stokes, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1971“History of Niagara”, Janet Carnochan, Canadiana Reprint, Series No. 58, Mika Publishing, Brockville, Ontario, 1973“Centennial – St. Mark’s Church, Niagara, 1792-1892”, no author, James Bain & Son, Toronto, 1892“A rare gift within its gates – the Story of St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada”, Rev. Hugh D. Maclean, 1980“Papers and Records of the Ontario Historical Society”, Vol. 3, ‘Early Records of St. Mark’s, Niagara’, (Hamilton Public Library Special Collections)
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1991, 2022.
